8.20.2013

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • A man was found not guilty in Tarrant County yesterday of shaking his baby to death. I'll give the prosecutors the benefit of the doubt that they just didn't speculate about what happened to the child. That would be a dangerous kind of prosecutor. And they exist. Boy, do they exist. 
  • Star-Telegram reporter Mitch Mitchell tweeted that the "jury said [the defendant] did not murder his 23 day old baby." That's not necessarily true. The jury could have simply had a doubt about the man's guilt which was reasonable to them. That's all that is required for a not guilty verdict. And that's not just semantics. 
  • The Tarrant County DA's office fires off press releases at the drop of a hat. Want to place a bet on the chances of there being one about that case? 
  • I got an email about the long time offensive coordinator in Bridgeport no longer being there. What gives?
  • A very funny guest on Hannity last night lead off the show talking about Ted Cruz's citizenship.  "His problem isn't that he's from Canada. His problem is that he's from Mars." Hannity didn't think it was funny. 
  • And how goofy does Cruz sound, upon learning that he holds duel dual [ok, that was a bad/funny one --- dagnabbit]  citizenship, by saying: "I will renounce any Canadian citizenship." It's like a Monty Python bit. 
  • Someone owes former FAN host Richie Whitt $6,500.
  • "Ball girl forgets she not supposed to catch foul balls."
  • Mark Davis really called out wanna be governor Greg Abbott yesterday for opposing the AA/US Airways merger.  And I agree with him. Something isn't quite right about Abbott getting involved in that -- someone might want to check the campaign donations list. (And it was awkward when Abbott kept claiming there was a "smoking gun" conversation by the US Airways president about "jacking up" fares but he couldn't remember what it was. That's kind of important.)
  • Just heard a vague report about a big restaurant fire this morning at NE 28th Street and Main Street in Fort Worth.  Whataburger? That BBQ place? Edit/Update: It's the Lonesome Dove restaurant. The initial address is wrong. 
  • The over/under line for wins by the Dallas Cowboys this year is 8.5.  Here's a hot sports opinion: Bet the house on the Under.
  • The most conservative judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will pay a $25,000 ethics fine (negotiated down from an earlier $100,000 assessment.)
  • I've mentioned this a ton of times but I keep forgetting his name: What ever happened to the metroplex cop who fired 40 (?) something shots and killed the unarmed man who evaded him?
  • What a strange life: Remember the crazy guy who falsely confessed to killing Jon Benet Ramsey? He was never prosecuted for anything and has since had a sex change operation and lives as Alexis Reich.
  • That measles outbreak in Tarrant County is disconcerting, but it gets closer as Bud Kennedy just tweeted that the outbreak is "in Kenneth Copeland's church." Edit: He updated his source to be a Fox 4 story.
  • Mrs. LL watched the first episode of Breaking Bad without telling me. I suspected she had and kept waiting for an opportunity to casually tell her to "tread lightly."  (But it was a little hard to be mad since I had watched it, too.)
  • I understand that some days there's not much news, but I power down when I get to the second item in the Update and it reads "HEALTH FAIR -" followed by the third item being "COOKING CLASS - ".